Chasing the monsters
by Misura
Summary: Seto is working late again and Mokuba wants him to come home.
1. Beginning

Chasing the monster

-

Warnings/notes : none, just Seto and Mokuba being brotherly.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 29th december 2003, by Misura

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The tall building that housed the most important departments of Kaiba Corporations, a monstruosity of steel and glass with twenty-six floors of offices and high-tech labs, was nearly all dark at a few minutes before midnight.

Only in the gate-house there was still activity, shades moving past the window with steady intervals to check on the security-cameras that were located all through the halls, to make sure no intruders would get a chance to steal the plans for Kaiba Corp's new products and projects. In the offices themselves, no cameras were located, to spare the employees the additional stress of feeling constantly watched.

Instead, the last worker to leave a specific department was supposed to lock off his or her part of the building. The system had worked well thus far, though the considerable security surrounding the grounds around the building might have helped too.

Unseen from the outside, a light was also still burning in an office on the top floor, where only the sound of typing prevented the silence of the night from being complete, every once in a while broken by a murmured string of words, intended merely for the person speaking them.

It was a rather young man who was still at work at this late hour, sitting in an uncomfortable office-chair, his gaze never seeming to wander from the screen, while his nimble fingers danced tirelessly over the keyboard, showing no signs of exhaustion or weariness. If it hadn't been for the clock that hung on the wall of his room, one might have easily been led to believe it was the middle of the day.

A normal employee would not have been allowed to stay this long past the building's official closing time of seven o'clock. Exceptions were made on occasion, of course, but only rarely. And never for the blue-eyed teenager who currently took a moment's pause to enjoy the quiet and peace of the deserted offices or, perhaps, to contemplate a certain line in the program he was working on.

He didn't need them. Security could no more order him to leave the building than it could command the sun not to rise the next morning. They were, after all, his employees as much as everyone else who worked in this building by day.

Seto Kaiba nodded once, apparently having made up his mind about the next string of code that was to make up his new game. He had hardly finished one line of it, when the sound of a cell-phone interrupted him. Frowning, he typed up the beginning of a new line, but his movements were less sure than before. The cell-phone rang again, in spite of the glare that was directed at the suitcase that contained it. Finally, at the third ring, he swiveled his chair away from his desk to answer the call.

"You should have been in bed a good three hours ago." Seto's voice sounded harsh, stern. Any of his employees would have cowered because of it, brabbling apologies and obediently nodding their heads, going 'yes, Kaiba-san'. Many people not his employees would have reacted the same.

Not the person on the other end of the line though. He was not like most people, a fact already proven by the fact that he was one of the few who had the number of Seto Kaiba's private cell-phone.

"And you should have been home at that time," a cheerful voice quipped in reply. "You made a promise, big brother. Don't expect me to follow your rules if you don't stick with them either. We had made an agreement that you'd stop working so late."

"It's not -that- late," Seto protested, cursing himself for that weak defense the moment the words had left his mouth. Perhaps he was more exhausted than he cared to admit to himself, if he was slipping like this so early in their conversation.

A soft laugh. "No? Then why should I be in bed? Or wait, maybe you're right. It's not even 'late' anymore, is it? It's -early-. Morning."

Seto checked his watch, noticing it was indeed a few seconds past midnight. He sighed. "Listen, Mokuba - "

"Good morning, Seto, will you be here in time for breakfast? Is that what you want me to say to you?" Unlike his big brother, Mokuba's anger was hot, burning. Its flame was usually not warm enough to be a match for Seto's own, ice-cold rage, but he was tired. Besides, what was there to be angry about?

Mokuba was in the right. Seto -had- promised to be home in time, to stop pushing himself so much, merely to get a project finished a few days earlier.

"I'm sorry." He hated having to apologize to anyone, even to Mokuba. Or maybe especially to Mokuba, because needing to apologize to Mokuba meant he had done something to wrong the only person about whose opinion he really cared. "I'll make it up to you."

Somehow, he would. Surely there would be an opportunity to do so soon, a period in which he could be missed at Kaiba Corporations ...

"You always say that!" Mokuba accused him. "But you never do, not really. If ... if you cared about me, you'd come home right now!"

Before Seto could reply to that outburst, a soft click indicated Mokuba had hung up. For a moment that stretched into minutes, he just sat there, the phone still in his hands, his face not giving a single hint as to what thoughts were spinning in his head.

Then he put down his cell-phone and returned to his computer, of which the screen was now showing flying Kaiba Corp-logos in all kinds of colors, coming at him out of the darkness. Seto stared at them blindly, seeing the face of his little brother instead, looking at him with eyes that showed a mix of hurt and anger.

_"If you cared about me, you'd come home right now!"_

A jerking movement of his hand brought the program he had been working on back on the screen. He saved it, more calmly now that he had made his decision, logged off quickly, as if scared that he'd change his mind, that he'd be unable to leave his work unfinished if he gave himself time to start doubting.

-----

Two pairs of eyes watched the blue-eyed teenager leave the building, stalking through the corridors with a scowl on his face. Two people shook their head, before sipping some more coffee to stay awake and look alert in case their employer would actually see them as he passed their desk.

"Seems like Mokuba finally lost his patience again," the woman remarked with a chuckle. Although they weren't allowed to listen in on any conversations, Security did keep a log of all incoming and outgoing calls.

"And about time too," the man grumbled in reply. "That poor brother of his is crazy enough to keep working all night long without a second thought. Good thing Mokuba's there to remind him he's just as human as the rest of us."

"Seto Kaiba being human? I seriously doubt that sometimes," the woman laughed, mirthlessly, quickly schooling her face back to a neutral, respectful expression as the doors on the other end of the reception-room slid open and the subject of their previous conversation stormed past.

-to be concluded in the second part-


	2. Ending

Chasing the monster

--

Warnings/notes : none, just Seto and Mokuba being brotherly.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 4th january 2004, by Misura. part 2 of 2

Thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter :

To Liz : Thank you for the words of wisdom! And the review, of course. –smiles-

To Amarielle : Thank you. I hope you'll enjoy this second chapter as well. –smiles-

To Snow Angel : -smiles- Thanks!

To crazykekacat : Glad to hear you liked it! Thank you! –smiles-

To cry wolf : I did my best, thank you. –smiles-

To Laryna6 : Thank you! –smiles-

To Metalsilverarmor23 : How could he not, with Mokuba waiting for him? –smiles- Thank you!

To DarkShadowFlame : Thank you very much! –smiles-

To lilmatchgirl : -grins- Aww, come on. He can be nice, from time to time. Thanks!

To HiKari, Mokuba's Guardian : Mokuba could –never- hate Seto. Never. Imho, of course. –smiles- Thanks.

To Icy Flame : Thank you! –beams-

To Uoyr's lover : Thank you! I hope you'll like the second part as well. –smiles-

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Seto wasn't surprised to see the light in the living-room was burning. Slightly annoyed that Mokuba apparently was still awake, yes, but not exactly surprised. It wasn't the first time this had happened, not the first time that he had been working late, suppressing his feelings of guilt. When he just kept telling himself one more quarter, a meagre fifteen minutes, wouldn't make much of a difference, it wasn't too hard not to give in to the memories that called him back home.

In time, it had almost become some sort of ritual. Instead of having to fight down guilt, Seto started having to keep from pulling out his cell-phone before it had even rung. Instead of the question whether or not he was a good brother, he was haunted by whether or not Mokuba loved him, would prove that Seto was still his beloved big brother whom he needed to see before he could go to sleep.

The time on which Mokuba finally disobeyed Seto's explicit command not to disturb him during work became a measure of his brotherly love. After days on which Mokuba's call was late, Seto tried to think of reasons for Mokuba's apparent lessened affection and of ways to make up to him. When Mokuba was early, he felt jubilant, proud of his accomplishment.

As long as there was someone who wished his presence, he knew he was still a human being. Not a heartless monster, like his stepfather had been, like people accused -him- to be. Mokuba was his shield, the way Seto was his. They protected each other. They didn't need anyone else aside from each other.

-----

"I'm home." Seto spoke softly, noticing Mokuba seemed to have fallen asleep on the couch. On one hand, he didn't want to disrupt the boy's slumber, didn't want to be responsible for wiping away that expression of peace and rest, the faint smile on Mokuba's lips. On the other side, he had to wake Mokuba to get him to go to bed properly. Sleeping on the couch would probably earn Mokuba a sore awakening anyway.

"I heard you coming." Mokuba yawned, his eyes still closed, that smile still lingering. "You're late."

"Traffic," Seto replied, knowing that wasn't what Mokuba had been referring to. "Deadlines."

"Hm-hm," Mokuba nodded, accepting the explanation, the apology that wasn't voiced, nor needed to be. They knew each other too well to argue. Or maybe they were simply both too tired.

"You're not in bed." It was Seto's turn to make accusations now, though there was no real reproach in the words. "It's long past your bed-time."

"Had to wait up for you," Mokuba murmured. Seto noted the use of 'had to' rather than 'wanted to', wondering what it meant. "Monsters in my closet."

Seto chuckled, unable to help himself. This argument was new. "Aren't you a bit old for that?"

Mokuba jumped up, his smile cheeky now, rather than serene. "Tell -them-!"

-----

"No monsters anywhere," Seto reported dutifully, after having sought all of Mokuba's room at the younger boy's directions. He wondered if this was a normal activity for older brothers, if this was another one of Mokuba's schemes to make him feel his real age.

"They must have all fled for you, big brother," Mokuba grinned, huggling his Blue Eyes-plushie. At first, Seto had adamantly refused to buy the toy for him, claiming it to be as much a perversion of his dragon's true nature as Pegasus' toon had been. A Blue Eyes White Dragon was a fierce, awe-inspiring creature, not some fluffy, cute thing to play with.

"That scary, am I?" Seto answered dryly. Mokuba had won out in the end of the affair of course, carrying the plushie home as if it were a trophy. He had told himself Mokuba's happiness had been worth the swallowing of his dignity. By now, he had gotten used to the animal.

"Very scary," Mokuba agreed, his eyes twinkling. "Just like my Blue Eyes." He raised the plushie, making a soft growling noise that was in no way comparable to a dragon's roar.

Seto snorted. "Well, I guess I can leave then." He felt tired, especially when faced with Mokuba's seemingly endless energy. Had he not been a teenager, he might have used the word 'old' rather than 'tired', but he was, so he didn't.

"Tell me a story? Or read me one?" Mokuba begged, pointing at the book lying on his nightstand. Looking at it, Seto also noticed the small alarm-clock stating the time to be near three in the morning.

"Sorry, Mokuba, but it's much too late for that. Another time," he promised, knowing Mokuba would make him keep his word, even if Seto might forget about it. "You need your sleep."

"But I'm not sleepy yet," Mokuba muttered, yawning. Seto smiled, bending over to ruffle his wild hair.

"A new schoolday starts in five hours," Seto remarked. Mokuba sighed.

"Are you going back to work?" The thought had crossed Seto's mind. Briefly. He knew his limits.

"No. I'll take some rest as well." Mokuba smiled again at that.

"Good. I'll sleep better knowing you're near me." Judging from the way his eyes kept slipping shut, Mokuba wasn't far away from sleep anyway. Still, the words warmed Seto. Which probably was the whole point of them, to make him feel loved, welcome, at home.

"Sweet dreams, Mokuba." His lips softly brushed over Mokuba's forehead, noticing how the boy's body had already gone limp to indicate his wish probably went unheard.

Nonetheless, walking down the hall to his own room, he thought he heard a sleepy voice call after him.

"Sweet dreams, Seto."

OWARI


End file.
